Aercon 2013-14

A day has passed, the dust has settled, the defeated have licked their wounds, and the victors are enjoying their spoils…Tuesday night saw the conclusion to the 2013/14 Aercon Cup.

The semi-finals of both the main draw and then the plate were contested, followed by the final for each. This was the culmination of around 50 matches and over 1800 rallies that had seen a (modern) record 32 entrants do battle. Thanks to all who took part, and to all who marked matches.

The plate contest saw Natalie Morant (+2) play Dilip Chakrabarti (-1) and Bob Carkeet (+1) play Gordon Scott (-1) in the semis. In fact, each was more like its own final; Natalie and Dilip – rarely 4 points apart – battled to a 25-23 win in Natalie’s favour. Two very evenly matched players in terms of skill, fitness and determination. A classic! On the other court, Bob and Gordon were just as nip-and-tuck, with the serve oscillating between them and the score 19-19 until Bob inexplicably tinned 6 shots in a row to hand Gordon a final spot.

While Natalie and Gordon rested, the main draw semis took place; Matt Merriman (-8) played Bob Broadbridge (+8), and Rob Motson (+20) played Kyle Finch (-30). Bob made few errors but Matt was on fire. Bob hit the ball hard, Matt hit it harder. Bob chased well, Matt reached everything. The upshot was Matt closed the game out 25-12 to book his place in the final. Meanwhile Kyle put on his crampons to start the huge ascent that was the points difference he faced against Rob; Kyle – part machine, part ice cube – responded to everything Rob (very ably) through at him, eventually reaching his 55 point target for the loss of just 3 rallies to set up a repeat of last year’s final.

In the plate final, Natalie (-1) made the early running against Gordon (+1) winning some quick points. Whether it be fitness, the length of the racket, or the size of the ball – who knows – Gordon looked increasingly uncomfortable as Natalie sensed victory and pressed home her advantage. Congratulations to Natalie for winning the plate competition 25-3.

In the main draw Matt found himself in the unusual position of a positive start score (+9) and Kyle looked buoyed at the prospect of a single-digit negative start for him (-8). Matt dominated some rallies, chased hard in others, but all the while Kyle was eating into the points deficit – closing in. Kyle finally caught Matt around 19 all, by which point Matt had already won more points off Kyle than all other competitors in the tournament combined. Time to sit back and cut your losses? Not on your nelly! Despite an “ultra-fatigue moment” that expressed itself in the form of a nose bleed, Matt dug in to match Kyle blow-for-blow, point-for-point as the scores reached 23 all. But Kyle drew upon the experience that comes from his considerable years to hold his nerve and win 25-23. Congratulations to Kyle for a third successive win. NEVER AGAIN!